Socially constructed reality forms a concept within the sociology of knowledge and the social constructionist strand of postmodernism. In the sociology of knowledge tradition what seems real to members of a social class arises from the situation of the class, such as the capitalist or working classes, especially with respect to the economic fundamentals which affect the class. According to the theories advanced by Karl Mannheim, who formulated the classic theories of sociology of knowledge, intellectuals occupy a special position which is to some extent free of the intellectual blinders imposed by the social position of other classes. In modern times The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, 1966 popularised the concept and the terminology of "socially constructed reality".
Socially constructed reality can also mean that portion of reality which consists of social or cultural artifacts, see The Construction of Social Reality, John R. Searle, The Free Press, 1995 (hardcover: ISBN 0-02-928045-1; trade paperback: ISBN 0-684-83179-1). The nature of that part of external reality which is a social or cultural product, e.g. money, marriage, government, hula hoops, etc. Also contains few chapters on realism.
Social constructionism is a school of thought that attempts, to varying degrees, to analyze seemingly natural and given phenomena in terms of socialconstructs.
Socialconstructions must be seen in an institutional context, as arising from the institutionalisation of patterns of interaction and meaning in society leading to a construction of social institutions and institutionalized perspectives and understandings.
Socialconstructions, as revealed in the case of gender identity and gender role, turns out to be based on a core of fact and a surrounding layer of conventions that may have biological relevance but are not necessarily compliant to biology.
The SocialConstruction of Reality is a classic book in the sociology of knowledge written by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann and published in 1966.
The central concept of The SocialConstruction of Reality is that persons and groups interacting together in a social system form, over time, concepts or mental representations of each other's actions, and that these concepts eventually become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to each other.
Socialreality is therefore said to be sociallyconstructed.
Feeds |
Contact